


Strawberry Ice Cream

by fundip



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Adventures In Space, F/F, F/M, knight!connie, older!steven, theres love but also some angst, unfused!garnet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-09
Updated: 2015-06-09
Packaged: 2018-04-03 15:25:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4105810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fundip/pseuds/fundip
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Steven gets kidnapped by Jasper, it's up to Connie, the Gems, and Peridot to save him before it's too late.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strawberry Ice Cream

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, this is my first SU story, so I hope ya'll like it! Cheers!

Beach City has been through a lot over the years. Whether it was the notorious Crystal Gems' doing or the misadventures of the eccentric inhabitants of the small town, something strange was always going on. Still, the sun stays hung low over the horizon, the temperature is hot, and the beach crashes in a delicate dance against the shore of the perimeter of the right edge of a secluded cove. Sure, much happens, but no one who lives in Beach City dares to live and give up the quirky lives they lead for anywhere else.

Today was an especially eventful day and the usually empty cove was filled with a great deal of excitement. Practically all of the shops were closed up for the entirety of the day for the once a year party that ragged on close by. It wasn't something exclusive or required. Although the sandy shore was jam packed full with bodies dancing to the beat of a - now famous - local DJ who made a surprise appearance with his chip tune table, everyone who came was there genuinely wanted to not because of some obligation. And that was the best part.

Hours went by and people who loved each other danced with one another. Even those who didn't usually enjoy strutting around, socializing with others, came out and had a fantastic time. Because although they may not be there because of an obligation there was a feeling of need to have a fun time at the host's party because he had done so much for everyone there. And he is the literal human representation of a golden retriever puppy, so it's almost impossible to not at least pretend to be having an enjoyable time while he's around. But, there was no pretending. Everyone had a blast and danced until the night went down and the DJ said he had to catch a plane ride to his gig the next day to be able to make it.

The host begged and pleaded, "Sour Cream, please. One more song."

To which he responded. "Steven Universe, you are the only person who still calls me that."

Things died off after that. Only a few stayed to clean up and say goodbyes, before heading to the house a little ways north where the real party began. And by party, the seven of them had begun to play a game of Uno and reminiscing on the years before. It was a perfect way to end a perfect day.

Now, they all sit huddled around a coffee table besides the kitchen that the Gem's have nicknamed the human room. It fit, ever since Steven was born, they have kept this makeshift area together to keep him feeling more like a regular boy. It didn't really work. Steven has a glowing rock in his belly button that can shoot out a shield. Never will his life ever resemble anything close to normal. The thought is still there and that's what keeps him going. So, when he was young and angsty over the fact  
that rather than having two parents like Connie, and a regular life, he would wake up in his little space while the Gems were chatting away in the kitchen or hiding in their own rooms, and know that this was for him. Everything his life amounts to is because another went out of their way to help him. He is the product of love and he'll never forget that.

He sits criss-crossed on the floor, staring steadily at his cards; on his right thigh, Connie sits with her on cards, eyeing him mischievously with a plain smile of delight. It reminds him of when he first asked her on a date to her high school prom. The two had been friends since he was eight and Greg and the Gems joked that they were a couple by the time the two were thirteen, but he didn't officially ask her until he came with an embarrassingly intricate way that was coupled with a ticket to the dance in little under a month. Almost five years later, she sits on his lap beating him in a game of cards.

Lion sleeps beneath the table, crawling up into an enormously large ball and having the table gravitate on his back, causing it to slightly teeter to the left. Peridot sits on a chair to Steven's right, not playing but watching the game curiously.

She joined the Gems about two years after their first encounter. They found her deliriously walking around in the middle of nowhere. Connie had seen a picture of an alien that she recognized from Steven's descriptions online on monster/alien occult websites, so when she transferred the information the them, they went straight out to find her. It took some searching, but after a few hours, she was spotted hiding, or collapsed because she had been running for so long, in a wheat field.

To say the least, Garnet was furious when she saw her. All the bottled up anger towards the Gem was unleashed. Pummel after pummel, hit after hit, Peridot was being ripped apart by the fusion, just seeming to take it. Steven had never seen something Gem related get so beaten up without retreating back into their gem, but Peridot, lay on the floor, looking to be cracked and in pieces as Garnet annihilated her. It was like she was simply accepting her fate and paying for all past actions. She didn't want to go back into her Gem, she wanted to be punished for her crimes against Earth.

Although the others stood and watched eerily in the back with Steven, he couldn't help but intervene. He threw himself in front of Garnet's hurdling fist and shielded Peridot's body with his own. Luckily, a bubble appeared around him, but the shock sent Garnet hurdling back out of view. Pearl and Amethyst could only stare in awe towards Steven and hatred towards Peridot. But, he didn't care. He would place his own life in the Gem's hands to protect. He loves them with all of his heart. But he knows that they see the world differently than he and knows to stop them once they've gone too far.

So, he clung onto Peridot's emotionless and seemingly lifeless body and held it tight. He whispered over and over that she was safe and that he would protect her. Tears fell down his cheeks and as Garnet regathered herself and was banging on the bubble and yelling to let her in and finish the traitor to his planet, he saw that Peridot, who lied all too still had tears falling from her eyes as well. 

Then, she glowed bright and turned to her mineral form. He held the stone tight in his hands and his entire body shook as the bubble popped. The Gems came in close to steal it away, to bubble it back to the temple to sit for eternity, but he wouldn't give it.

He made a promise.

Across the table, Pearl stares from her deck to Amethyst, who she's sure is cheating. Which, she is. Most definitely. But, that doesn't change the reason why Ruby is yelling at Sapphire for the reason of obvious: Future Vmision. The obvious winner, who only has one card left, is already determined and she knows it.

The tiny couple look between one another and although Ruby looks absolutely furious, she still seems completely infatuated with the girl sitting beside her.

"Take this." She purrs triumphantly, placing a skip card to conveniently pass over her girlfriend. 

Sapphire smiles lightly, holding up Ruby's hand and dropping her lips atop it. "You know," She whispers. "The card you put down is red." Her free hand drags it away, to reveal the previous beneath its old place. "This one is blue and a three, so." 

She picks up Ruby's card and places it in her hand with the small smile growing. Then, she takes the last card from her own deck and places it on the pile. It resembles the color of her dress.

"I win."

Ruby screams, scattering all the cards on the table and throwing her own hand down. The game is officially over.

"Okay, it's my turn to clean up, then." Connie pecks Steven's cheek and stands up, flattening down her dress as she does so. The tiny couple already are giggling and kissing away on the couch.

"No way!" Steven gets up right after and spins her around, being closer to the table and already gathering up the cards. 

Pearl stands up and grabs both of their piles of cards from their hands. "Both of you." She shakes her head as she continues to clean up. "Connie, you've done enough help today. And Steven, it's your party. Allow me."

He hugs her tightly and her cheeks turn a blushed blue. "Thank you, Pearl!" He pats her on the back lightly and goes over to stand next to Connie, draping his arm around her and holding her close. He presses a kiss onto the top of her head.

Suddenly something comes flying towards them and instinctually he dives in front of her, spinning around. His hand fall on her shoulders and his chest presses against hers, his legs spread a steady width apart. Whatever it is crashes onto his back and slides down. He feels something cool against his skin.

"I did not expect that!" He looks over his shoulder to see Amethyst standing upon a chair with a hand over her head. Redirecting his eyes down, he sees that a broken beer bottle now lies on the floor. 

"Amethyst!" Pearl shrieks loudly, all the cards fall from her hand as she changes her attention to the new made mess.

"I thought he'd catch it!" She shrugs and plops down in the chair. "It's his twenty first birthday and that means he can finally get wasted, but he hasn't had any booze."

"I was going to with my dad, but he went back to the van before we could have our first drink. Besides, I'm not really interested." He rubs his back and feels the sticky liquid between his fingers. "I'll just wait to do it tomorrow when I see him."

Connie shakes her head in thought. "Yeah, I tried to slip him some a few months when I turned, but he wouldn't have it."

"Good boy!" Pearl beams, cleaning up the mess on the floor.

"Steven, may I talk to you outside?" Sapphire stands up slowly and Ruby stares up after her lustfully. 

He takes a step towards the door. "Of course." His hand falls on the knob and pulls it open as she walks through, following closely behind with Lion on his tail, purring quietly as he almost knocks over the table.

It's about eleven at night, so the sky is pitch black other than the stars that liter it. Beach City is strangely quiet with everyone else tucked away in their beds, preparing for the next day and dreaming that their wishes come true. Although he loves spending time with all the locals and helping them with their day by day antics, Steven's favorite part of the day is when they all lie asleep and conjure up all possibilities of the next day in their heads. He thinks of his father who can only be unconscious in his van in front of the car wash. He sends over good thoughts for a happy day to come.

Sapphire stares over the crashing waves quietly, looking to be in a deep thought as well. He's only gotten to see her less than twenty times, so every time an opportunity to see or speak with her arises, he takes it whole heartedly. Even if she uses it to stare out absentmindedly.

Lion drags his body up and  
down his leg, being oddly affectionate. Steven doesn't mind, using this opportunity to scratch between his ears while cooing out nothings in babble talk.

"Do you remember the first time we met?" He turns his head to see Sapphire looking up at him. They had been close to the same height all those years ago but now she barely makes five foot five and he is well over six feet. The only thing that they both share now is their long hair that reaches both the square of their backs and the glowing gem tucked away on their body.

"On the spaceship?" He recalls with a shudder. Nowadays, not much scares him. He's really turned into quite the Crystal Gem despite the the fact he has human blood surging through his veins. He can keep up with the best of them and has fought many rogue gems over the years with Rose's glowing sword and shield. But, nothing has scared him as much as when he was on that oddly shaped ship supposedly blasting off to the Gem Home World. He doesn't remember much from when he was the young, but he remembers seeing that like the back of the hand. Garnet being split in two. Lapis gladly being locked in a cell to have her fate tested. The crash. Jasper. Chills continue to roll down his spine, closing off the memory.

"No. Not that." She shakes her head firmly. "A few years ago, when you were only a few days ago."

"Um, Sapphire," He raises his hand from lion and scratches his head slowly. On one hand he is happy they're not going to talk about that day, but on the other- "Humans don't have that good of memory."

She sighs. "Yes, I'm always forgetting. Forgive  
me." She pauses, looking back to the shoreline and looking to be losing her train of thought. It's like she knows what she wants to say but not how to say it. "When you were very small, you needed a lot of maintenance, so Ruby and I figured it would be good to deal with you with an extra pair of hands, staying unfused. Not only did we discover from Greg that you had something called bowels, but you had no control over them." Her nose wrinkles. "Diapers."

He turns bright red and looks away as well. "Sorry about that. Yet another perk to being human." 

"It's alright, but I mention it because I remember the first time you lay asleep in my arms. Ruby was off somewhere. Pearl was in some sort of state. Amethyst was with Greg. So, it was just you and me."She turns back, watching as Steven still had his back turned and ears turning back from pink. "You were so small and fragile. I could never imagine you growing to be like your mother.Compassionate. Loving. Strong. Loyal. And so brave." His head spins around to reveal tears falling from his eyes. "But, you have. You're a spitting image of Rose and we see it everyday."

"Thank you." He bends down slightly and hugs her tightly. "This is better than any birthday present."

"I'm not telling you this as a gift." She instructs. "I'm telling you this because one day you will have to work with your strengths when you truly need them."

He nods his head and opens his mouth to speak again, but is interrupted by the sound of a loud explosion in the house. They both turn to see a smoking mess in the middle of the human room. Sapphire runs in ahead of Steven and Ruby catches up with her, looking frustrated.

"She did it again." She rolls her eyes in annoyance. Steven stands in the doorframe to see Connie coughing a little ways away from where the explosion took place, obviously fine, and releases a quick breath. Pearl taps her foot and Amethyst is beaming.

In the center of it all, revealed as the smoke parts away, Peridot sits with a small invention in her hand. She doesn't look phased to the slightest, ignoring everyone and staring at whatever contraption she just made in her hand. The look on her face is of pure curiosity. 

This problem has risen before. Peridot causing things to explode and angering the Gems beyond explanation. Sure, they've grown used to her presence and especially appreciated her existence when she first came and told of the seemingly dormant escapades of Home World, but there are still times where they seem to resent her. So, since she was an inventor and computer whiz back where she grew up, she immediately began to take Earth minerals and make new types of inventions. Some actually work out really well and have been integrated into missions and daily life needs. But most simply explode in their face. Literally.

"Peridot!" Pearl calls impatiently. "Why did you do that?"

Peridot rolls her eyes, not looking up. "Obviously just to anger you, Pearl." She mocks her name by saying it in a similar tone as she uses to yell at her.

She groans and crosses her arms. "Clean it up."

Placing whatever it is down, she finally looks up at Pearl, getting on her feet. "Of course, your majesty." She bows ever so slightly. "Whatever you please." She sarcastically marches around the corner and out of view to grab something that will clean the mess.

"If you don't stop being a grump, Pearl, I'm going to turn back into an old man." Steven laughs loudly, grabbing Pearl by the shoulder. As a child, such displays of intolerance and bickering bothered him, but now it showed that although the Gems were aliens from another world, they still have qualities that make them imperfect. Human.

And that's what Steven loves most about them. They may be monster fighters who try to void all emotion, but there are still numerous occasions where that simply does not work. When Pearl becomes a perfectionist. When Amethyst worries for her value. When Garnet lets her temper roll. When Ruby has codependency ruling her choices. When Sapphire lets Future Vision control her life. When Peridot allows her sarcasm to escape viciously. They all have something that is so diverse that it pulls them all together and he loves them for it.

Connie smiles and wraps her arms around his waist. Excluding his father, everyone he loves is here. He'll have to give him a big kiss and a hug when he sees him tomorrow and tell him how much he means to him. 

There's another crash and this time it comes from the general direction Peridot had gone off to. Pearl, who was being consoled by Sapphire, immediately looses her mind. Amethyst is doubled over laughing and Ruby, once she's ensured no shrapnel had made its way towards Sapphire, is rolling on the floor laughing. Steven even releases a light chuckle, not allowing to be as humored as the two others until he sees Peridot and ensures she's safe. Connie on the other hand looks alert, concerned for her well being.

Peridot does come around after a long pause, but the state she is in leaves everyone else breathless. Her feet dangle limp a few meters above the ground. Her body stays completely still. But her eyes go crazy, darting back and forth between everyone, silently pleading for help. One arm stays by her side while the other is held tightly by a thick hand over her head.

They look more crazed than she. Wild hair. A psychopathic gaze that craves blood. Everything about them hints at dangerously insane and power hungry.

Connie's hand slips into Steven's as his shield is the first of many weapons to activate in the room.

"Jasper."


End file.
